Mr. Robot is back for Season 3 and the premiere definitely makes things more straight forward than the bulk of Season 2 did. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t as much of a fan of Season 2 as I was the first season, all things considered. The first half of the season is basically filler with the whole plot twist “Elliot was actually in prison” shit, and then things started to get a little too cryptic and psychological than I was expecting for the show. It’s good news for me though as so far (It’s one episode, I know) I’m on board with Season 3.

Last season left off with the reveal of what Phase 2 actually was after being tossed around by the likes of the Dark Army, Tyrell, and Mr. Robot himself. A backdoor into E Corp’s recovery program would allow sabotage of all their records, basically allowing citizens to be freed of debts and E Corp’s grasps. The plan sounds good that far, but it would also require the building in which the files are stored to be blown up, killing anyone unfortunate enough to currently be inside. Upon learning that this was what Mr. Robot’s master plan would led to, Elliot backed out and attempted to sabotage the sabotage plan. Mr. Robot expected this and had Tyrell shoot Elliot in response, fully willing to sacrifice his vessel to ensure Phase 2 happens.

We kick right off to see that Elliot makes it out okay after the shooting thanks to the help of Irving, a Dark Army fixer and potentially my new favorite character. There’s something about fixers that can casually get the job done and rarely be fazed by things that interests me so much and Irving nails that this episode. After the ambulance takes Elliot away and patches him up, Irving is told by Whiterose to deliver him to Angela as she can keep him safe for the time being. During this time, a blackout also occurs all over the city and Whiterose is seen with an assistant at the E Corp power plant. They discuss Elliot’s unreliability, but Whiterose affirms that only Elliot can take their project where it needs to go, but once it’s complete he has no concerns for Elliot’s wellbeing.

Elliot finally wakes up six days after being shot and is brought up to date by Angela, who is fully aware of what Phase 2 is now. Elliot explains to her that he needs to stop it and leaves despite his wound not being 100% healed. Upon arriving at the warehouse he was shot at, he sees that Tyrell and the other cleaned house, stripping everything away. Elliot also begins to notice that he no longer feels Mr. Robot’s presence in himself, but sadly that’s only for a brief amount of time. Darlene is waiting for him back at his apartment and informs him of Cisco’s death at the hands of the Dark Army and how she believes she’s next. Elliot does a terrible job at calming his sister down or tending to her feelings, still fixated on ending Phase 2 before it can be accomplished. Thanks to the power outage, it’s hard to really get wifi access, but luckily Darlene knows just the place.

A hacker den with dedicated fiber connection is hosting a global CTF hacker tournament, so Elliot quickly makes short work of the challenge in order to gain computer access to patch up the backdoor in E Corp’s system. Dark Army followed the duo to the den and Elliot manages to fix the backdoor just in time for both him and Darlene to be taken captive by the Dark Army. Irving escorts them to his favorite BBQ place after avoiding a FBI tail and asks for an update from Elliot on Phase 2. Elliot tells Irving that he fixed the backdoor and he’s out of whatever Dark Army’s plan is, to which he is surprised that Irving accepts the request. Elliot still demands confirmation that he and Darlene are safe from Whiterose herself, however, which is what begins to tick Irving off. “You won, go home. Before you lose again.”

Now that Darlene is more informed of what Phase 2 is thanks to Dom and the FBI, she tries to get Elliot to tell her the truth, but he insists that not only is Tyrell not involved, but also that Elliot himself wasn’t the one who came up with the plan. At least one of those is the truth, but Elliot loses Darlene when he mentions Cisco’s death in a dickish fashion. This leaves Elliot alone in the streets to monologue to himself about how his revolution has only caused humanity to worsen rather than grow. People have died because of him, the media is spinning Fsociety’s revolution to their own goals, and Elliot is afraid of the future that can come from this.

Returning to Angela, he asks for her to attempt to get him an E Corp job, so he can fix what he’s done from the inside. He also asks to watch out for him if Mr. Robot ever takes him over again as Angela is the only one who knows him enough to tell the difference. After an awkward kiss, Angela heads to her bed while Elliot remains in the living room. In the middle of the night, the switch between Elliot and Mr. Robot occurs, only Angela seems to be working for Mr. Robot as well. She informs him that Elliot fixed the backdoor, but that they can come back from it. It seems Mr. Robot’s ultimate goal is to erase Elliot all together, fully dominating his body for his own so that Elliot can stop interfering with their plans, but Angela offers that they can just redirect his energy to assist them.

The duo meets with Irving, who apparently isn’t aware of Elliot’s condition, and update him that Elliot is in fact still in Phase 2. Tyrell is also made aware that Elliot survived and Mr. Robot informs him that they still have much work to do to progress Phase 2 now. On the train ride back home, Mr. Robot asks Angela why she is siding with the Dark Army’s plan rather than Elliot’s, seeing as Elliot is her best friend. She offers that Elliot needs pushing to do the right thing and that Whiterose’s plan was the first time she’s ever felt hope that E Corp will pay for what they did to her mother and all others who suffered. Everything can go back to the way it once was and a new world will be born from it. The blackout finally comes to an end and the stage has been set for the future of Phase 2.

As I said at the beginning of this, “power-saver-mode.h” didn’t try to be mysterious and just showed everything how it was. Most of the major aftermaths of Season 2’s finale were addressed, Elliot is shown to have less allies than ever, and I’m becoming more interested in if Phase 2 will actually happen or if Elliot can stop Mr. Robot once and for all. I’m sure following episodes may bring back the mystery that Season 2 so desperately wanted to cling to, but seeing shades of what I liked about Season 1 is making me more hopeful for this season to come.

power-saver-mode.h – 4 out of 5

Pros:

Getting straight to the point of things plot wise.

Irving is a great new character.

Angela is becoming more interesting with her double agent nature.

Cons:

Is Tyrell ever going to do anything besides looking like he’s on the verge of tears now?